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Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.



 
 
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  #21  
Old November 9th 05, 10:46 PM
Banty
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article , Stephanie says...


"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
Barbara wrote:
Banty wrote:

In article .com,
Barbara
says...

SNIP

I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.

Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty

A lot of 5 year olds are in first grade (school districts like NYC with
a 12/31 cut-off; do any school districts still have a 1/31 cut-off?).

No I'm referring to homework being given at such a young age.

I admit I was being flippant..

Banty


I knew that!

It's just that when people refer to 5 year-olds, I think most people
think kindergarten. But in school districts with later cut-off dates,
that's not the case. NYC still has a 12/31 cut-off, so there's a lot
of 5 year olds in first grade. When I was a kid in Philly, the cut-off
was 1/31, so first grade was 1/2 over before I turned 6. While I don't
advocate a lot of homework for first graders, I don't find it
unreasonable, either.


I do. There's precious little evidence supporting
the notion that homework for early elementary does *anything*
useful. Encourage reading at home. Send home a list of
spelling words for the week. But don't load them up with
daily homework in first grade. It's just flat out ridiculous,
and ultimately, I believe it has a lot of negative unintended
consequences.

Best wishes,
Ericka



I don't understand the concept of getting ready for 3rd and 4th grade
homework in kindy and 1st grade. But that's just me. (Or then it isn't since
I've seen such articles on the 'net).



Especially if you consider that the given reason for homework in the 3rd and 4th
grade, absent any evidence that it does actual educational good, is that the 3rd
and 4th graders need to "develop good homework habits" for later!

Some years back when I needed to give a presentation for upper mangement, my
second-line manager wanted me to 'dry run' a presentation for him to make sure
it'd go OK. My first line manager, on learning that, sceduled a 'dry run' in
front if *him* the day before that to make sure the 'dry run' would go OK!
aRRRRGH A year or so later, there was a Dilbert strip on exactly that topic.

Maybe there are pointy-haired elementary school teachers.

Banty

  #22  
Old November 9th 05, 10:47 PM
Barbara
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Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

I don't understand the concept of getting ready for 3rd and 4th grade
homework in kindy and 1st grade. But that's just me. (Or then it isn't since
I've seen such articles on the 'net).


My feeling is that kids need to practice what they've learned. I just
don't think it's unreasonable to ask a kid to do ten math problems,
write sentences using his spelling words, read a paragraph and answer a
couple of questions about it, or perform other simple reinforcing
tasks. Obviously, others disagree; we'll have to live with that.

Barbara

  #23  
Old November 10th 05, 02:05 AM
Lesley
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Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

Michelle J. Haines wrote:
Barbara wrote:


It's just that when people refer to 5 year-olds, I think most people
think kindergarten. But in school districts with later cut-off dates,
that's not the case. NYC still has a 12/31 cut-off, so there's a lot
of 5 year olds in first grade. When I was a kid in Philly, the cut-off
was 1/31, so first grade was 1/2 over before I turned 6. While I don't
advocate a lot of homework for first graders, I don't find it
unreasonable, either.



The cut-off date in Wyoming is 9/15, so most of our kindergarteners are
six here. And Kirk's mother (a school counselor) says that unless the
kids are six by -March- (the previous March), she strongly discourages
them from sending them to school until the following year.



Am I misunderstanding? You mean she thinks they should be 6.5 before
kindy starts? Doesn't that make for a lot of 19 year olds graduating
from high school, by which time they're really over H.S.?

Lesley
  #24  
Old November 10th 05, 03:47 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


Michelle J. Haines wrote:


It was kind of a funny moment, really. We homeschool, which my MIL
abhors, and I had commented negatively on the local school going to
all-day kindergarten. "Our kindergarteners have had full days for
several years, and they do just FINE. Most of them are reading by the
end of the year!"


My kids were in preschool for several years before they went to
kindergarten.

They wanted full days. One of mine was really disappointed on
discovering not only was it not full day, but that because the
afterschool program wasn't up to much, it was actually going to BE only
a half day. (The other was in a school with a great after-school
program, and didn't notice the difference.)

I don't know what half-days do for kids these days. Many of them have
been accustomed to being in preschool. Many will be in afterschool care
anyway, rather than going home.

  #25  
Old November 10th 05, 03:54 AM
cara
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Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

polzovatel wrote:
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

This is my perspective on it also; My 5 year old gets 2 short
assignments on a Tuesday and its due on Friday. Parents are expected to
help out and sign off on the assignments. After we go over the
instructions, I let her do it as much on her own as I can and help when
needed. As far as nitpicking every little thing, I really cringe at
that approach. I think its giving the wrong message about learning at
this age. Gentle corrections as you go along, or noticing a common
error (ie: making an S backwards, etc) and then arranging an activity
later to help them master that skill seems appropriate, but giving the
message that 'you're doing it wrong, thats not right, do it this way,
thats not the way its supposed to be...' in my opinion will not help
your child be a better student, it will only lead to frustration,
disappoinment in never being good enough, etc. Of course, I have a 5
year old daughter who sort of does this to herself (perfectionist), so I
sort of back off of that a lot to let her see that it doesn't *have* to
be perfect in most cases, it just has to *be* done the best we know how.

Cara
  #26  
Old November 10th 05, 06:40 AM
dragonlady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article ,
Banty wrote:

In article . com, Barbara
says...


Banty wrote:
In article .com, Barbara
says...

SNIP
I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.

Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty

A lot of 5 year olds are in first grade (school districts like NYC with
a 12/31 cut-off; do any school districts still have a 1/31 cut-off?).

No I'm referring to homework being given at such a young age.

I admit I was being flippant..

Banty


I knew that!

It's just that when people refer to 5 year-olds, I think most people
think kindergarten. But in school districts with later cut-off dates,
that's not the case. NYC still has a 12/31 cut-off, so there's a lot
of 5 year olds in first grade. When I was a kid in Philly, the cut-off
was 1/31, so first grade was 1/2 over before I turned 6. While I don't
advocate a lot of homework for first graders, I don't find it
unreasonable, either.


I don't think it's reasonable or necessary in 1st grade.

Banty


I'll go further: I think that homework before about 4th grade is just
plane evil, and ought to be completely done away with.

There is NO evidence, anywhere, that homework before that does any good
whatsoever, and for some kids it just sets them up for homework being a
constant struggle.

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care
  #27  
Old November 10th 05, 06:42 AM
dragonlady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article ,
Banty wrote:

In article , Stephanie says...


"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
Barbara wrote:
Banty wrote:

In article .com,
Barbara
says...

SNIP

I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.

Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty

A lot of 5 year olds are in first grade (school districts like NYC with
a 12/31 cut-off; do any school districts still have a 1/31 cut-off?).

No I'm referring to homework being given at such a young age.

I admit I was being flippant..

Banty


I knew that!

It's just that when people refer to 5 year-olds, I think most people
think kindergarten. But in school districts with later cut-off dates,
that's not the case. NYC still has a 12/31 cut-off, so there's a lot
of 5 year olds in first grade. When I was a kid in Philly, the cut-off
was 1/31, so first grade was 1/2 over before I turned 6. While I don't
advocate a lot of homework for first graders, I don't find it
unreasonable, either.

I do. There's precious little evidence supporting
the notion that homework for early elementary does *anything*
useful. Encourage reading at home. Send home a list of
spelling words for the week. But don't load them up with
daily homework in first grade. It's just flat out ridiculous,
and ultimately, I believe it has a lot of negative unintended
consequences.

Best wishes,
Ericka



I don't understand the concept of getting ready for 3rd and 4th grade
homework in kindy and 1st grade. But that's just me. (Or then it isn't since
I've seen such articles on the 'net).



Especially if you consider that the given reason for homework in the 3rd and
4th
grade, absent any evidence that it does actual educational good, is that the
3rd
and 4th graders need to "develop good homework habits" for later!

Some years back when I needed to give a presentation for upper mangement, my
second-line manager wanted me to 'dry run' a presentation for him to make
sure
it'd go OK. My first line manager, on learning that, sceduled a 'dry run'
in
front if *him* the day before that to make sure the 'dry run' would go OK!
aRRRRGH A year or so later, there was a Dilbert strip on exactly that topic.

Maybe there are pointy-haired elementary school teachers.

Banty


I think more likely pointy haired school boards . . .

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care
  #28  
Old November 10th 05, 10:06 AM
Michelle J. Haines
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

Lesley wrote:

Am I misunderstanding? You mean she thinks they should be 6.5 before
kindy starts? Doesn't that make for a lot of 19 year olds graduating
from high school, by which time they're really over H.S.?


I think I misspoke. She thinks they should be 5.5 by the time they
start Kindergarten. I was thinking six, because under the 9/15 rule,
our oldest daughter would have turned six a few weeks after that. Our
first son and most recent daughter would turn six about a week after
that (birthdays of 10/19, 9/22, and 9/24 respectively). So I tend to
think of "starting age" of kindergarten as six.

Michelle
Flutist
  #29  
Old November 10th 05, 10:51 AM
Mary Ann
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


polzovatel wrote:
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?


I think it depends on the child. If he is able to complete work himself
and you are both
happy with what he produces then he doesn't need to be helped. However,
if he needs encouragement to sit down and focus on a single task then
you'll need to sit with him while he
learns to work independently.

It also depends on his level of perfection. Some children may be keen
to get apsolutely everything correct and beautiful. Some may be able to
do this, while others may find it very frustrating and may need you to
step in to point out that they've done well or worked on a task long
enough.

It also depends on the school policy. Do they expect perfect work, or
at this stage are they more keen to see that the child has spent 30
minutes working on something independently?

My son is 6. At this age I think learning homework practices is more
important than the actual work he's doing. I want him to learn that
it's important he sits somewhere quietly and spends some time focussing
on the work. So, we decide when the homework will be done, sit together
and read through the task then discuss how it will be done. Some work
requires me to sit with him, while other tasks he can do himself. But I
always ask him whether he'd like me to help.
I don't want him to sit struggling while I'm cooking dinner, but want
him to know that I'm there 100% if he needs me. When he's finished I
praise him, then depending on what the task is I either ask him whether
he'd like me to show where he's made a mistake or I tell him I'm going
to go over it with him (say if it's a task I know he finds
challenging). I make sure he knows that I think he's done a great job,
but that his teacher will be even more pleased if she can see that he's
worked that extra bit harder to get it right.
I always note down when I've helped him so his teacher knows how much
input I've given.

Mary Ann

  #30  
Old November 10th 05, 01:00 PM
Chookie
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article ,
"Welches" wrote:

We were told that they should be doing about 40 minutes of homework a week,
which sounds a lot to me.


That sounds ghastly!

I've been going to Kinder Orientation (DS1 starts school next year -- February
for us) and we have been told that the kindergartners will not get homework
for at least the first half of the year; they are learning so much that they
will be exhausted when they get home. And she wasn't speaking of the
intellectual rigours of the curriculum, but of getting used to bells, lining
up, lunchboxes, uniforms, working in a group of 20 or a group of 6, working
alone, keeping quiet in class, making friends, etc.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.
 




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